God’s Garden Hose

There are rivers of water vapor high in the atmosphere that “flow” over parts of the Pacific and can cause serious flooding when they start to rain. The can flood an area the size of Maryland 1 foot (0.3 meters) deep! A sensor called HAMSR (built by JPL) will study these river aboard an aircraft called Global Hawk. HAMSR will measure the density and temperature of the rivers by recording the heat given of by oxygen and water molecules in the atmosphere.